1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to electronic recipes and, in particular, to a method, system, and program for managing electronic recipes. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, system and program for distributing electronic recipes with encrypted ingredient lists that are only accessible by a food retailer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Food recipes have been swapped, published and handed down by word of mouth, written recipe cards, published recipes and other media for years. Today, recipes are also permeated through electronic media. Many web sites provide databases of recipes that can be searched by ingredients and other criteria. In addition, many electronic recipe web sites enable users to upload recipes that can then be accessed by other users.
Professional chefs and restaurants that develop award-winning dishes may attempt to profit from recipes for the dishes not only by preparing the dishes in a restaurant, but by publishing recipe books. However, distribution of recipes, once they are in print, is difficult to stop. Even more difficult, once a recipe is in electronic format, the recipe can be distributed to millions of users.
Some restaurants are able to secure portions of recipes and profit from the creation of award-winning dishes by distributing sauces or other pre-packaged portions of a dish so that the purchaser may only add a few additional ingredients and/or cooking preparation. In addition, pre-packaging ingredients for a particular dish has become popular in some supermarkets. For example, a consumer may purchase a package of chopped vegetables and a spice pack for preparing a soup. The pre-packaged ingredients also include instructions for preparation and options for meats and other ingredients that may be added.
While supermarkets and other food retailers may distribute their own recipes with pre-packaged ingredients, it would be advantageous to provide electronic recipes that may be distributed from a web site and include “protected” ingredients that can be accessed and prepared by a supermarket or other food retailer, however are not accessible to the consumer other than by purchase from the supermarket or other food retailer.